Thank you for inviting me to Fresh Fiction today it’s great to be here. I’ve brought with me my new novella HEAT OF THE DAY. It’s a ménage a trois story with M/F, M/M and M/F/M scenes in it and set in beautiful Southern Spain. I’ve been lucky enough to spend quite a lot of time on the Costa Del Sol in and out of the holiday season. It’s a beautiful place, there’s always something going on and the people watching—if that’s something you enjoy doing, which I certainly do—is incredible. You can sit in Peurto Banus and admire the super-cars crawl by as you sip on sangria and lust after the yachts in the marina. Wandering around the old town of Marbella is always a treat and I particularly love the quaint, cobbled squares which have orange trees providing shade for diners at the exquisite little restaurants – Ohh the tapas! And all the time the majestic Sierra Nevada mountain range towers in the distance. If you’re feeling flush and in the mood to party don’t miss Nikki Beach. It’s THE place to be seen for the young, hip and rich crowd and a day there consists of music,…

I’m thrilled and excited to have my first release with Berkley Prime Crime hitting the market. KINGDOM COME is a murder mystery set in Amish community in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Holding the paperback book in my hands is the culmination of a long journey. This is a story that wouldn’t die, and one that struggled to find its proper form like a morphing shapeshifter. Besides writing books, I also design computer games under the name Jane Jensen. KINGDOM COME, with a female detective, was first conceived of as an adventure game. I wanted to do a mystery/thriller that had a strong romantic element to it. You would play the role of the female detective trying to uncover who dunnit. Romance is something I don’t feel we see enough of in games, so the romantic aspect of the story was critical. The game proposal was for a live action game in order to best represent the romantic/erotic elements of the story. But it was a risky project, and an expensive one, and we didn’t find funding for it. Here’s the front of that original pitch. The proposal sat on my hard drive for a year or so, like so many other…

Dear Readers, I’m thrilled to be back at Fresh Fiction today celebrating my newest release—and this is a special one to me. A follow-up story that I never thought I’d write. In fact, the follow-up to my very first published book. Where HEARTS IN DARKNESS was about two strangers finding acceptance and belonging while trapped in a pitch-black elevator, LOVE IN THE LIGHT is about that couple learning to trust the love that they found. For the past five years, the most frequently asked question I’ve received is whether I’d ever write a follow-up to HEARTS IN DARKNESS. And for a lot of that time, the answer was no. When I finished that book, that was all there was of Caden and Makenna’s story. I knew things that happened to them after the book ended, but there was no story. When the story idea finally came to me, it was exciting, but also scary. Because by then, HEARTS IN DARKNESS had had a lot of readers and it had a super unique premise (two strangers trapped in a pitch-black elevator) that would be hard to follow. But once I knew what the story was, it wouldn’t leave me alone. I…

Finding out someone you have put your trust has betrayed you is awful. However, if you learn the two people you trusted most betrayed you together, it could be soul crushing. In NOT OKAY, CUPID, the protagonist, Hazel, finds out her sleazy boyfriend is cheating on her with her best friend. In one instant, the life that she had organized perfectly transforms from a dream to a nightmare and crushes her perfectly-planned future. With the help of her best friend’s brother, Felix James, she sets off a revenge plot, so she will not fall apart completely, but just in case humiliating your ex is not in the cards, here are my tips for the top five ways to get over a cheating ex. A good cry. Sob, even. Denial is the very worst thing you can do. Face it. It happened. Let yourself be very very very sad. And angry. But not, like, break his windshield angry, but no dude is worth a felony. Classic Sads. Sad movies. Watch one. Watch two. Heck, watch a dozen. They help with the tears. (And TVs don’t mind if you chuck pillows at them. Feather ones, anyway.) Gather them around you for comfort….

“Only the most mature of us are able to be childlike. And to be able to be childlike involves memory; we must never forget any part of ourselves. […] For growing up never ends; we never get there. I am still in the process of growing up, but I will make no progress if I lose any of myself on the way.” Madeleine L’Engle Walking on Water Do you remember the optimism of childhood? The anticipation you felt when a friend asked, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Or how overwhelming it seemed to pick only one occupation? Even as a high school senior you probably thrilled at the prospects before you. Different possibilities glimmered with hope, with opportunity, with the promise of fulfillment. Then adulthood slapped you across the face and woke you from the your childhood delusions, right? Yeah, me too. Responsibilities, bills, family pain—even the ‘good’ stuff—can weigh us down and steal our joy. The loud shouts of reality easily drown the whispered dreams of childhood. This paradigm shift is what draws me to the genre of Fantasy. Those quiet voices speak a little louder, reminding me that life is bigger than my…

Stories could be set in this city, once a small fishing village . . . Sarasota: Culture & Circus Stuffed with people and culture today, I can’t imagine Sarasota, Florida, once was a small fishing village with only a few hundred people at the turn of the 20th century. Charles N. Thompson was the manager of Ringling Brothers Circus in the 1890s. He checked out the village and bought a 154 acre track for $1650, then later added 30 acres more. Dresses for dancing cost that much today. Hard to imagine all that land then for the price of one dress now. Sounds like a fairytale.   Read more…. About Gail Ingis Gail Ingis writes historical romance, loves history and romance of course, has taught history, and her weekly blog frequently covers historical content. A native of Brooklyn, New York, Ingis’s early days began and ended with writing, drawing and music. Her inspiration to write came from books gifted to her by an aunt. But life had other ideas. After graduating from the New York School of Interior Design with a BFA in Interior Architecture and Design and masters’ studies in Architecture and Design Criticism at The New School (Parsons)….

How many adults dreamed about being a cowboy when they were kids? I think especially those of us who are . . . ahem . . . over a certain age, were more enamored of riding the range and fighting the bad guys, due to the prevalence of western TV shows and movies during the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. While growing up, my little sister, Jenny, wanted to be a cowboy SO badly. She had all the toys—the Johnny West set, the toy truck and horse trailer, the cowboy hat, the whole nine yards. Me, I just wanted to own a ranch full of horses. We lived in a small town with a couple of hillside acres, but our parents weren’t horse savvy, and we weren’t either. I remember my first foray into riding alone—I was about 14 and had the opportunity to ride a neighbor’s semi-broke horse. Jet black, not too big, but no saddle or lessons. I did great the first few days, until the horse decided to take off at a canter around a corner. He went one way, I went the other, and the resulting sprained wrist ended my wild cowboy days until years later. I…

My newest novella, FREDO’S SECRET, was a Christmas present to my readers. One comment I loved yesterday from a reader was, “Fredo’s Secret was the book I didn’t realize I needed.” Fredo grew up poor in a rough neighborhood near LA. He isn’t as handsome as some of his SEAL brothers, but he wound up with Mia, the most beautiful of all the SEAL wives. Mia is Armando’s (the sniper on SEAL Team 3) little wild child sister, and he spent the first four books loving her from afar while she mistreated him and wickedly turned down all his advances. They finally get together in Book 5, Cruisin For a SEAL. With his unibrow, wide nose and ruddy complexion, Fredo has always been a fan favorite. I can’t tell you how many letters I’ve received from fans asking when he’d have his own book. There are a lot of things that a writer does to get into a character, and after writing this novella, now I can write his full length book. But it took me over two years to get there! It was a pleasure to bring the novella to my readers. And I decided to have it recorded…

Forget the gorgeous blonds or the pictures you see in the fashion magazines (they’re all too skinny anyway), what you as a guy should really be looking for is a reincarnated witch. The pros far outweigh the cons (although the cons list is a little scary, but only if you’re unfaithful, see point #5 below.) In Thirst: Blood of my Blood, Kira soon discovers she has roamed this earth before, and her best friend, Brenda, was her right-hand gal. But the key focus in the story is Kira’s relationship with Cory. Cory doesn’t run when he discovers she’s a reincarnated witch. When you see the Pros list, neither would you. 1. They’re Experts at Foreign Language Studies This depends on where the witch was raised initially. But a witch remembers the languages she has spoken before. Imagine how useful that would be in a French restaurant. No more ordering icky snails when you thought it was a rib-eye steak, or Macarons thinking it has something to do with pasta (it doesn’t.) Pain au chocolat is not a new method of cocoa torture, and Madeleine does not mean you’ll get a new waitress…called Madeleine. You might think a problem arises when…

One of the things I have a love/hate relationship with when it comes to writing is the research I do. Some of it can be fascinating and some of it’s boring. I learned early in my writing career when I did a lot more nonfiction writing that I needed to contact experts in whatever field I was writing the article in. I had to have their opinion to use as quotes and then fact checkers would make sure the information was accurate. Finding experts was sheer torture. I hated cold calling people I didn’t know to ask them to give an opinion for what I was working on. I always felt tongue-tied. I had to contact doctors and lawyers. I spoke to private investigators and firefighters and the list goes on. For the most part, everyone I spoke to was kind and eager to be helpful. The more I had to reach out to experts, the easier it became. With fiction, I’ll do the same thing I did with the nonfiction writing. When I have a question, I’ll call on an expert if I can’t figure out what I need to know. With STEALING THE BACHELOR, the heroine’s chocolate shop…